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Part Seven Special Topics and Perspectives
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
VII. Special Topics and
Perspectives
22. Evaluating the Social,
Ethical, & Economic
Aspects of Advtising &
Promotion
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Advertising as Untruthful or Deceptive
One of the major complaints against advertising is that many ads are misleading or
untruthful and deceive consumers. A number of studies have shown a general mistrust
of advertising among consumers. 13 A study by Banwari Mittal found that consumers
felt that less than one-quarter of TV commercials are honest and believable. 14 Sharon
Shavitt, Pamela Lowery, and James Haefner conducted a major national survey of
over 1,000 adult consumers to determine the general public’s current attitudes toward
and confidence in advertising. They found that Americans generally do not trust advertising,
although they tend to feel more confidence in advertising claims when focused
on their actual purchase decisions. 15
Attempts by industry and government to regulate and control deceptive advertising
were discussed in Chapter 21. We noted that advertisers should have a reasonable
basis for making a claim about product performance and may be required to provide
evidence to support their claims. However, deception can occur more subtly as a result
of how consumers perceive the ad and its impact on their beliefs. 16 The difficulty of
determining just what constitutes deception, along with the fact that advertisers have
the right to use puffery and make subjective claims about their products, tends to complicate
the issue. But a concern of many critics is the extent to which advertisers are
deliberately untruthful or misleading.
Sometimes advertisers have made overtly false or misleading claims or failed to
award prizes promoted in a contest or sweepstakes. However, these cases usually
involve smaller companies and a tiny portion of the hundreds of billions of dollars
spent on advertising and promotion each year. Most advertisers do not design their
messages with the intention to mislead or deceive consumers or run sweepstakes with
no intention of awarding prizes. Not only are such practices unethical, but the culprits
would damage their reputation and risk prosecution by regulatory groups or government
agencies. National advertisers in particular invest large sums of money to develop
loyalty to, and enhance the image of, their brands. These companies are not likely to
risk hard-won consumer trust and confidence by intentionally deceiving consumers.
The problem of untruthful or fraudulent advertising and promotion exists more at
the local level and in specific areas such as mail order, telemarketing, and other forms
of direct marketing. Yet there have been many cases where large companies were
accused of misleading consumers with their ads or promotions. Some companies test
the limits of industry and government rules and regulations to make claims that will
give their brands an advantage in highly competitive markets.
While many critics of advertising would probably agree that most advertisers are
not out to deceive consumers deliberately, they are still concerned that consumers may
not be receiving enough information to make an informed choice. They say advertisers
usually present only information that is favorable to their position and do not always
tell consumers the whole truth about a product or service.
Many believe advertising should be primarily informative in nature and should not be
permitted to use puffery or embellished messages. Others argue that advertisers have the
right to present the most favorable case for their products and services and should not be
restricted to just objective, verifiable information. 17 They note that consumers can protect
themselves from being persuaded against their will and that the various industry and
government regulations suffice to keep advertisers from misleading consumers. Figure
22-1 shows the advertising principles of the American Advertising Federation, which
many advertisers use as a guideline in preparing and evaluating their ads.
Advertising as Offensive or in Bad Taste
Another common criticism of advertising, particularly by consumers, is that ads are
offensive, tasteless, irritating, boring, obnoxious, and so on. In the recent study by
Shavitt and her colleagues, about half of the respondents reported feeling offended by
advertising at least sometimes. A number of other studies have found that consumers
feel most advertising insults their intelligence and that many ads are in poor taste. 18
Sources of Distaste Consumers can be offended or irritated by advertising in a
number of ways. Some object when a product or service like contraceptives or personal
hygiene products is advertised at all. Most media did not accept ads for condoms until